Kingdom of France
Structure
Estates of the realm Parlements French nobility Taille Gabelle Seigneurial system

Taille was also a name used in the time of Johann Sebastian Bach for the Baroque cor anglais. The Ancien Régime, a French term rendered in English as “Old Rule” “Old Kingdom” or simply “Old Regime” refers primarily to the aristocratic The Estates of the realm were the broad divisions of society usually distinguishing Nobility, Clergy, and Commoners recognized in the Middle Ages This article is for the Ancien Régime institution For the post-Revolutionary and present-day institution see French Parliament. The Nobility (la noblesse in France, in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period had specific legal and financial rights and The following article is about a Tax. If you are looking for information about a literary character see A Tale of Two Cities. This article is about the medieval system "Manors" redirects here The cor anglais, or English horn, is a Double reed Woodwind Musical instrument in the Oboe family

The taille was a direct land tax on the French peasantry and non-nobles in Ancien Régime France. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. A peasant is an agricultural worker who subsists by working a small plot of ground Ancien Régime ( pronounced: /ɑ̃sjɛ̃ ʁeʒim/ refers primarily to the aristocratic social and political system established in The tax was imposed on each household and based on how much land it held.

History

Originally only an "exceptional" tax (i. e. imposed and collected in times of need, as the king was expected to survive on the revenues of the "domaine royal", or lands that belonged to him directly), the taille became permanent in 1439, when the right to collect taxes in support of a standing army was granted to Charles VII of France during the Hundred Years' War. Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461 called the Victorious (le Victorieux or the Well-Served (le Bien-Servi was King of France from 1422 The Hundred Years' War (Guerre de Cent Ans was a prolonged conflict lasting from 1337 to 1453 between two royal houses for the French throne vacant with the extinction of the senior Unlike modern income taxes, the total amount of the taille was first set (after the Estates General was suspended in 1484) by the French king from year to year, and this amount was then apportioned among the various provinces for collection. In France under the Ancien Regime, the States-General or Estates-General (French états généraux) was a Legislative assembly

Exempted from the tax were clergy and nobles (except for non-noble lands they held in "pays d'état" [see below]), officers of the crown, military personnel, magistrates, university professors and students, and certain cities ("villes franches") such as Paris.

The provinces were of three sorts, the "pays d'élection", the "pays d'état" and the "pays d'imposition". In the "pays d'élection" (the longest held possessions of the French crown; some of these provinces had had the equivalent autonomy of a "pays d'état" in an earlier period, but had lost it through the effects of royal reforms) the assessment and collection of taxes were trusted to elected officials (at least originally, later these positions were bought), and the tax was generally "personal", meaning it was attached to non-noble individuals. In the "pays d'état" ("provinces with provincial estates" Brittany, Languedoc, Burgundy, Auvergne, Béarn, Dauphiné, Provence and portions of Gascony (such as Bigorre, Comminges and the Quatre-Vallées); these recently acquired provinces had been able to maintain a certain local autonomy in terms of taxation), the assessment of the tax was established by local councils and the tax was generally "real", meaning that it was attached to non-noble lands (meaning that nobles possessing such lands were required to pay taxes on them). Brittany (Breizh bʁejs Bretagne; Gallo: Bertaèyn) is a former independent Celtic kingdom and Duchy, now incorporated into Languedoc ( in French Lengadòc in Occitan) is a former Province of France, now continued in the modern-day ''régions'' of Languedoc-Roussillon Burgundy (Bourgogne Burgund is a region historically situated in modern-day France and Switzerland, inhabited in turn by Celts ( Gauls) Auvergne ( Occitan: Auvèrnhe/Auvèrnha) was the name of an historically independent county in the center of France, as well as later a Province of This article is about the former French province for the warship see French aircraft carrier Béarn Béarn ( Gascon: Bearn The Dauphiné or Dauphiné Viennois is a former province in southeastern France, roughly corresponding to the present departments ' of the Provence ( Provençal Occitan: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm is a region of southeastern France Gascony (Gascogne gaskɔɲ Gascon Occitan: Gasconha, pronounced) is an area of southwest France that constituted a province of France Bigorre ( Gascon: Bigòrra) is region in southwest France, historically an independent county and later a French province, located in the upper The Comminges is an ancient region of southern France in the foothills of the Pyrenees, corresponding closely to the Arrondissement of Saint-Gaudens in the department Quatre-Vallées (ie "Four Valleys" ( Gascon: Quate-Vaths) was a small Province of France located in the southwest of France. In the Common law, real property (or realty) refers to one of the two main classes of Property, the other class being Personal property ( "Pays d'imposition" were recently conquered lands which had their own local historical institutions (they were similar to the "pays d'état" under which they are sometimes grouped), although taxation was overseen by the royal intendant. The title of intendant (intendant Spanish intendente) has been used in a number of countries through history

In an attempt to reform the fiscal system, new administrative divisions were created in the 16th century. The Recettes générales, commonly known as "généralités", and overseen in the beginning by "receveurs généraux" or "généraux conseillers" (royal tax collectors), were initially only taxation districts. Recettes générales, commonly known as généralités, were the administrative divisions of France under the Ancien Régime and are Their role steadily increased and by the mid 17th century, the généralités were under the authority of a "intendant", and they became a vehicle for the expansion of royal power in matters of justice, taxation and policing. The title of intendant (intendant Spanish intendente) has been used in a number of countries through history By the Revolution, there were 36 généralités; the last two were created in 1784. Year 1784 ( MDCCLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year

Généralités of France in 1789. Recettes générales, commonly known as généralités, were the administrative divisions of France under the Ancien Régime and are Areas in red are "pays d'état"; white "pays d'élection"; yellow "pays d'imposition"

Until the late 17th century, tax collectors were called receveurs royaux. In 1680, the system of the Ferme Générale was established, a franchised customs and excise operation in which individuals bought the right to collect the taille on behalf of the king, through six-years adjudications (certain taxes like the aides and the gabelle had been farmed out in this way as early as 1604). The Ferme générale was in ancien régime France, essentially a franchised customs and excise operation which collected duties on behalf of the king The major tax collectors in that system were known as the fermiers généraux (farmers-general in English).

Tax collection

Efficient tax collection was one of the major causes for French administrative and royal centralization in the Early Modern period. The early modern period is a term used by historians to refer to the period in Western '''Europe''' and its first colonies which spans the three centuries between The taille became a major source of royal income (roughly half in the 1570s), the most important direct tax of pre-Revolutionary France, and provided for the growing cost of warfare in the 15th and 16th centuries. The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an Records show the taille increasing from 2. 5 million livres in 1515 to six million after 1551; in 1589 the taille reached a record 21 million livres, before dropping.

The taille was only one of a number of taxes. There also existed the "taillon" (a tax for military expenditures), a national salt tax (the gabelle), national tarifs (the "aides") on various products (including wine), local tarifs on speciality products (the "douane") or levied on products entering the city (the "octroi") or sold at fairs, and local taxes. The following article is about a Tax. If you are looking for information about a literary character see A Tale of Two Cities. Finally, the church benefited from a mandatory tax or tithe called the "dîme".

Louis XIV of France created several additional tax systems, including the "capitation" (begun in 1695) which touched every person including nobles and the clergy (although exemption could be bought for a large one-time sum) and the "dixième" (1710-1717, restarted in 1733), which was a true tax on income and on property value and was meant to support the military. Early years Birth and ancestry Louis XIV was born in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye on September 5 1638 and bore the Heir apparent

In 1749, under Louis XV, a new tax based on the "dixième", the "vingtième" (or "one-twentieth"), was enacted to reduce the royal deficit, and this tax continued through the ancien régime. Louis XV (15 February 1710 &ndash 10 May 1774 ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774 This tax was based solely on revenues (5% of net earnings from land, property, commerce, industry and from official offices), and was meant to reach all citizens regardless of status, but the clergy, the regions with "pays d'état" and the parlements protested; the clergy won exemption, the "pays d'état" won reduced rates, and the parlements halted new income statements, effectively making the "vingtième" a far less efficient tax than it was designed to be. The financial needs of the Seven Years' War lead to a second (1756-1780), and then a third (1760-1763) "vingtième" being created. The Seven Years' War (1756&ndash1763 involved all of the major European powers of the period causing 900000 to 1400000 deaths In 1754 the "vingtième" produced 11. 7 million livres.

The taille eventually became one of the most hated taxes of the Ancien Régime.

See also

• Tallage
• La Dîme - a land tax benefiting the church